Dating
by DreamingOfDissent
Summary: AxI although there's a touch of IxOC at the beginning. We'll see how that turns out.
1. An Introduction

It was almost alarming how well she hid it from everyone. The fact that she was human was only vaguely recognized by the men she worked with. She was stronger than steel, colder than ice, and less pliable than marble when it came to her affairs, both personal and official. In fact, no one knew of a personal life outside of her organization. As much as the thought interested the younger men, they all feared her far too much to ever let her know. She had declined enough men politely and more than enough not so politely to assure them that she knew she was of stronger stuff than they, and they accepted it with only very little fuss. But the queen demanded that she try and make amends with the men, perhaps a dance or two at her next gala?

The thought did not please Integra, however, she was bound to the crown and the wishes thereof. So she had Walter search out a dress for her, and had Seras help her prepare. Alucard was her unofficial escort, playing in the shadows as she sat at her table in the corner, seemingly alone. The first half hour passed uneventfully, and just as she hoped that it would remain that way, things changed.

"Sir Hellsing? I am Todd Jameson." A timid man with brown hair the color of his suit said, bowing to her. She nodded an acknowledgment of his presence and reached for her champagne. He frowned, swallowed nervously, and continued, a vague tremor slipping into his voice. "Would you care to dance?" He offered a pale, thin hand that shook lightly. The intimidation rolled off of him in waves. Her ice blue eyes met his mousy brown ones as she opened her mouth to decline.

"Her Majesty said that you were only to refuse three men an hour. He will be your fourth." Alucard's black velvet voice said in her mind. She sighed and stood, taking the man's hand. It froze for a moment before trembling with true force as she led him to the dance floor. Alucard chuckled as she taught the man a rudimentary waltz before becoming absolutely fed up and leaving him on the dance floor.

"My my, Master... That was cold of you..."

"The twit couldn't manage to so much as walk without stumbling. One would be inclined to think that I had a knife at his throat the entire time with the way he stuttered and apologized."

"Perhaps you are being too hard on the poor fool. He would have worshiped the ground you walked on had you been kinder to him."

"I have no need of an acolyte."

Alucard simply chuckled.

Two hours later, she sat sipping her third flute of champagne, and found everyone tolerable at the very least. Alucard grinned from the unseen shadows at her as another suitor walked up.

"Sir Hellsing?" He asked. He had a deep, rich voice that contrasted nicely with his sandy blonde hair. She looked up at him, pleasantly surprised at his posture and demeanor. He seemed to be a man of self-discipline and respect.

"Yes, and who might you be?" she asked. Alucard's grin faded at her mental assessment of the man. She liked him... Possibly in a way that was slightly less than professional...

"I am August de Sade." Here he bowed.

"An interesting name." She said.

"I have long thought so, but then again, how interesting can it be to a woman who has been knighted and runs her own organization like clockwork?" he asked, sitting across from her, his grey eyes sparkling with interest. She hid her smile with a sip of champagne. He was trying to charm her...

"You would be surprised."

"I look forward to it." He said with a grin.

* * *

*****So... Here's the first chapter. I fully intend on finishing this, and I have a general idea of where it's going. Please, please, for the sake of my heart, review. Oh, and here's my disclaimer... Hellsing doesn't belong to me, and the more witty lines in here don't either. The general pretense this story's founded on isn't original to me, but I'm hoping I can breathe a little life into it. 


	2. Questions

Only a very rare few had seen her do anything but paperwork and shooting. Those few were Alucard, Seras, and Walter.

The first time that Seras beheld her doing something outside of her usual routine, she was shocked. Integra was busy reading a novel that had nothing to do with the supernatural at all, a copy of Mark Twain's _Tom Sawyer. _She was so surprised that she just ducked out of the library, deciding that her question could wait until tomorrow.

Walter was always relieved to find her in such a manner. He was convinced that she worked harder than necessary. Not that running Hellsing wasn't important business, but it was simply that, business. It pleased him to see her amusing herself instead of running herself into the ground with all of the necessary paperwork.

Alucard, however, was never quite satisfied with the ways that she spent her extra time. He knew her mind better than she knew it herself, and he could see that her smile didn't always mean that she was happy. More often than not, it was a diversion in itself. Once, when she didn't know he was listening, he found her wondering if she still knew how to smile. Later that evening, for no apparent reason, she had found an old book on her desk, a favorite from childhood that she hadn't seen in years. The shadows in the farthest corner of the room writhed in pleasure as a true smile curved her pale lips.

But now that same smile graced her lips as she picked up the simple envelope from her desk. The shadows writhed again, but not out of pleasure. They did not appreciate that softer look her eyes had as they danced across the fine script of her name on the cream envelope. Her fingers caressed the fine paper as they traced their way to the black wax seal on the back. AdS was inscribed in flowery, flowing characters that managed to gleam up from the black seal with a masculine strength. Her fingertips lingered on the initials before the seal was broken. Within was a letter, written in a romantic, spidery hand that spelled out how intrigued the man was with this 'woman of steel', and how he wondered if he could ever be lucky enough to coax her out for dinner sometime. She smiled a little at the witticisms and intelligence that wove the words together so wonderfully. The shadows materialized into the form of a jealous lover scorned for his advances.

"What does _he_ want?" the shadow man asked, gracefully gliding to one of the chairs across from her desk.

"He wants to speak with me again..." She said in reply, her voice distant and somewhat awed. The smile stayed on her lips, threatening to make its home there.

Alucard was not pleased.

Later that evening, Integra sat behind her desk in a rare moment of leisure. However, instead of her usual pained expression, she wore one of curiosity with a hint of something not usually shown. The way her teeth caught on her bottom lip spoke of shyness. Walter couldn't help but smile as he brought her the tea tray. When the soft sound of its contact with the desk reached her ears, she jumped.

"Oh, Walter... I didn't hear you come in..." She said, smiling a little before tucking the cream envelope beneath the keyboard of her computer. Walter noticed and hid his smile. It was high time she started acting like a woman in her early twenties.

"I apologize, Sir." he said with a bow before leaving her to her tea and musings. In the hallway, he was accosted by the elder vampire.

"Who is August de Sade?" Alucard asked, his voice dripping venom.

"The queen's newest eligible bachelor."

"And what gives him the hubris to attempt to court Integra?"

Walter sighed. This would be the beginning of a long and pointless conversation if he didn't have the advantage of knowing exactly how Alucard would react to knowing that young de Sade had a record nearly as interesting and prestigious as Integra's. However, instead of hunting vampires and the supernatural, he had fought the more mundane things that went bump in the night. He had followed in his father's footsteps and become head of the operations for weapons manufacturing for her unique line of work. He was a worthy diplomat and clever businessman. Other than the one crazy uncle of a Marquis, he was also from a good family. The queen saw him as a very good suitor for Integra, and Walter was inclined to agree.

However, no one who wasn't Hercules' equal in strength, Einstein's equal in brains, and Abraham's equal in honor and proficiency with dealing with the other worldly could ever stand up to Alucard's standards concerning his goddess of a master.

Walter just walked away instead of answering Alucard's query.

***** And so ends chapter two. I decided to go ahead and finish it since I had an incredibly great day thanks in part to my reviewers! The rest of it was due to clean laundry, canceled Spanish class tomorrow, and my best friend's kick ass culinary skills.

Now to get to the fun part. The reviewer acknowledgments:

maroongrad: I've been in love with your writing style for a while, and I look forward to your updates. I was thrilled to see that you like my work as well.:D

Hemamal: I agree with you on the jealous Alucard equaling trouble, but isn't it fun trouble?:D

: I guess we'll have just to see how far she takes this, hmm? :D

FilledeMarius: I'm so glad that someone got my reference! And I'm always happy to meet another AxI fan.

Melzdog123: You'll be happy to hear then that I'm already working on chapter 3, I presume? ;)

And so there we go. If you're nice and leave me a comment, I'll set aside a little line or two to give you a shout out. I do love your feedback. (Insert disclaimer here) Now, I'm off to finish chapter 3! 3 Nyxe


	3. A Letter Burnt

_Mr. de Sade, _Integra wrote,_ I was pleasantly surprised by your letter. As enjoyable a time as we spent together at the ball, I was not expecting to hear from you so soon afterward. Forgive my delay in replying as I was having a bit of trouble with a skirmish outside of White Chapel. Upon my return, I realized that Alucard had shredded every single scrap of stationery-_

Here she stopped and tore up the sheet of paper.

"I can't even write a damned letter..." she muttered to herself as she let the confetti flutter into the ashtray. She then lit her cigar with the lighter from her pocket and let the red embers rain down on the torn letter. The smell of burnt ink and paper mingled with the smoke from the cigar. She sat back and sighed.

She looked up when she heard the knock on her door. It was far too timid to be Walter.

"Come in, Officer Victoria." She said, taking another drag on the cigar. The door opened and the strawberry blonde's head peeked around the heavy oaken door.

"How do you always know it's me?" She asked, stepping in like she was afraid of being shot.

"Talent." Integra had to keep an upper hand somehow in the relationship, and letting her know that the only reason that she could distinguish Seras' knock from anyone else's was that it was too short and quiet to be a man's knock, and the maids all knew to leave her office alone. Integra sighed at the draculina's naivety.

"Oh. Of course!" Seras said, smiling overly brightly. She was nervous.

"What seems to be the problem?" Integra asked, easily sliding the envelope from the previous day beneath the keyboard. She briefly wondered if that was where it should live...

"Oh, there's no problem at all, sir, I was just wondering if you knew why Master has been so... well... I guess what I'm trying to say is..."

"Is what, Police girl?" Alucard's voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere in the room, making his fledgeling squeak in alarm. Integra took a bored drag on her cigar.

"Leave." Alucard's voice boomed, sending Seras fleeing from the room as he took a chair across from Integra's desk.

"She was only wondering if I knew why you have been so damned moody these past few days." Integra picked up her pen once more, looking over a bit of her actual paperwork rather than attempt to write a letter back to August just yet.

"I have _not_ been 'moody'." He said, visibly sulking. Integra raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps a mission would make you stop brooding? They will stick you in one of those teen magazines soon if you keep it up. God knows why they like portraying brooding vampires as sexy." The pen glided across the paper smoothly. She had no patience for pens that scratched. She wanted them to sweep across the page as easily as a sword swept through air.

Then the pen snapped in half and her eyes locked with a very angry shadow that seemed to come from Alucard's shoelace, or rather, where a shoelace would have been. Her eyes traveled up to the glowing embers that were her vampire's eyes.

"Why?" She asked, dropping the pen into the small basket beside her desk and taking another from the drawer.

"Don't see him."

"See who?" She asked, her eyes slowly becoming veiled by a thin sheen of ice.

"You know damn well who."

"And what gives you the right to command me, Vampire?"

His eyes sparked and blazed like the flames in Satan's hearth. She was unphased. She returned her attention to her work.

"Leave me be. My personal affairs are none of your business."

After a beat of silence, she was somewhat surprised that he hadn't snapped back a reply. When her eyes darted up far enough on the page to see the chair in her peripheral vision, she saw that he was gone. She was stunned for the briefest of moments before her pen resumed its fluid motions across the forms.

**** And here's chapter 3! I was on a roll, and today's been just as awesome as yesterday. Now to figure out what to do in the next chapter... :D

Shout out time!

Black Diamond07: I was trying to think of an interesting enough name that wouldn't be too long, because I hate typing character names that are like thirty characters long. I got the name from the Marquis de Sade, who was one sick man. His name is where the word 'sadism' comes from. :)

Elalona: I'll have to help Alucard find that dirt, won't I? :) I'll try and make it interesting.

Alrighty. Three chapters down, and who knows how many to go... I'd better get writing! 3 Nyxe


	4. Engagement

***** Just a note before we begin, I do accept bribes. Story chapter for story chapter. :D This one's for maroongrad. You totally made my day.

"It has been three days since I sent the letter. Do you think she received it?" August de Sade asked his brother.

"I am most sure that she did. I took it to the house myself. Gave it straight to the butler." Dorian said. He was lounging on the red velvet Victorian thing that August called a couch. August sighed.

"Perhaps she has just been busy..." He mused. The metal bar with the wax seal etched with the mirror image of the stamp on the back of Integra's letter seemed to absorb his entire attention. He couldn't stop thinking about her. His paperwork lay in a heap to the side of his desk, a book of John Donne's poetry taking its usual place. There was a black velvet bookmark in the center of the book, marking a poem he wanted to share with her. She seemed the kind to need someone to introduce her to the frivolity of poetry, and who better than himself to do so? He fidgeted with the end of the bookmark as his brother looked on.

"Send another note. Maybe her pet vampire chewed it up."

* * *

"Don't be so-..." August trailed off as he picked up the pen and another sheet of paper.

"Sir Integra? You have another note." Walter said, bringing the twin to the envelope shoved under her keyboard. She could see the inky smear of the wax stamp and her visage brightened. Walter hid another fond smile as he passed it to her and promptly left the room. Integra thanked him offhandedly as she went to break the seal.

He couldn't help but smile as he stood in the doorway. The way her face lit up and animated her features made her seem younger, to look her own age for once. She was smitten, of this he was certain. And another thing that he was sure of, if that young man for any reason whatsoever hurt her, they would be finding bits of his body over all of Europe for years to come.

The phone rang. August jumped for the receiver only to have it snatched from his grip by his brother.

"De Sade Management Headquarters. Dorian speaking." He smirked at his brother. August glared.

"Of course, Madam. If you will please hold, I will patch you through to him." Dorian grinned and pushed the hold button, passing him the phone, "It's the Hellsing woman. She has a lovely voice." He said.

August simply waved him off and pressed the button again.

"Hello, Sir Hellsing." He said, velvet voice clashing with the death glare aimed at his infuriating brother.

"Hello, Mr. de Sade." Integra's voice didn't betray the smile of childish glee that danced on her face.

"Please, call me August."

"August." She smiled around the syllables of his name, causing them to fall even sweeter on his ear.

"And to put us on equal terms, forgive me if I am bold, may I call you by your first name?"

"Integra." she said. The shadow that is Alucard frowned. No one called her by her first name anymore... This couldn't end well...

"Integra." De Sade sighed her name, making something within her thrill. She liked him. She honestly liked him. He couldn't believe it.

The rest of the conversation passed surprisingly smoothly. He charmed her and she charmed right back with a finesse that no one at Hellsing would have ever guessed that she possessed. Dorian smirked smugly as he watched his brother talk to the woman. The way his eyes lit up and glimmered made him happy. He hadn't seen his brother enjoy another's company in years. This was truly a great woman.

On the other end of the line, a very disgruntled vampire lurked in the shadows beneath Integra's desk. The shadows swirled and congealed and writhed like boiling water as her conversation drew on. When she agreed to meet with the man the following day, that was when he had enough. He materialized when the phone was set in the cradle without hardly a sound. This was the gentlest treatment the poor phone had ever received at her hands.

"You're going out with him."

"Thursday, yes."

"Alone?"

"Of course."

"That's stupid."

"We have no pressing news of attacks and I will do as I please in my spare time."

"You don't know anything about him."

"I don't need to. I know that I trust him enough to go out in broad daylight to a cafe with him."

"That's stupid."

"So you have told me. Now, leave me be." She turned back to her paperwork, cigar untouched in the ashtray beside her.

And so it remained, the lone cylinder of tobacco wrapped in fine black paper, still uncut and unlit in the empty ashtray until the following morning at ten.

Integra strode into her office simply to retrieve the lone cigar, cutting and lighting it absently as she ran through her wardrobe in her mind. As she paced back into her bedroom, puffs of smoke rising from her lips, she realized that maybe she wasn't so unlike other women after all...

She had nothing to wear.

She briefly debated asking Seras for her opinion since she was the only other member of the fairer sex in the household, but quickly decided against it. The girl wore miniskirts and low cut blouses that made her uniform look downright conservative when she had free time. Integra had no intention of leaving the house looking like a well-paid stripper.

When she stepped out of her wardrobe fifteen minutes later, she was wearing a pair of pressed khaki pants that fell to her ankles and actually conformed to her figure while being loose enough for her to run if she needed, and a white button down shirt that wasn't three sizes too large. She tucked the shirt into the pants and added a slim black belt with a simple silver buckle as she slipped on her shoes. They were simple black loafers that looked surprisingly classy. After double checking to make sure that her holster was invisible through the shirt, she grabbed a khaki jacket and tucked her wallet into her pants pocket.

"Leaving so soon?" a velvet voice cooed from the corner. Alucard stepped from the wall and looked her over.

"The meeting is at eleven thirty, and it will take at least fifteen minutes to find the cafe."

"Then you'd better get going. You have only an hour." Alucard chuckled again and faded through the wall, making Integra glare at the space where he vanished from.

***** I'm so sorry it's been so long since I updated... I got swamped with my cousin's birthday and school came to attack my schedule. But I made it a little longer to hopefully appease you guys. :) Tell me what you think about it so far!

Shout out time!

JC: I'm glad you're enjoying this. As you can tell, I'm a BIG AxI supporter. :D

FilledeMarius: In reference to the tension, I've written a few rp's with a friend and I always get annoyed when they get along too well. The tension is what makes their relationship so wonderful.

BeautifullyBroken86: We'll have to wait it out and see just how intimate this relationship gets, won't we? I'm sorry the update took forever. I'm working on getting better about when I post things.

Maroongrad: Wow... You updated and I didn't. I feel like I dropped the ball there... Still love your work, and one of these days, I'll get better about reviewing. It's one of the many things I need to improve on.

Zorin-Demontie: *loves*****


	5. The Date

Integra had her reservations about meeting August alone for lunch, but there were only so many options open to her. If she brought Walter, then she would have to monitor everything she said and did even closer than she normally did. Despite the master-servant relationship they had, he was still like a father to her and she found it incredibly hard to dispel those fond feelings.

However, her second option wasn't incredibly appealing either. Bringing Pip along would be a nightmare. She would have to keep a closer eye on him than he would her, and having an underling along on a personal trip would blur a few lines that she wanted to keep sacred. Besides, she didn't need any of the men knowing that she wasn't always the vicious she-devil that they imagined.

There was no need to even consider Alucard. He would stir up more trouble than he could prevent. That was a can of worms that she had no intention of unleashing on August until she absolutely needed to. Alucard could also appear quick as a thought should she truly need him.

She thought all this on the drive to the cafe. Her guns at her sides comforted her with their cool weight against her undershirt. She was confident that she could take care of any situation shy of nuclear war by herself. The radio would have provided a pleasant distraction on the drive, but as a general rule, she left it off. She had no need of distractions. Besides, a moment or two of pure alone time was perhaps just what the doctor ordered. She had never had a casual lunch with someone who wasn't a business connection, and she watched so little television that she would hardly know how to act. However, he seemed to approve of her behavior so far...

She caught herself in that thought. 'He seemed to approve'? When had she ever needed a man's approval? She was Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, for God's sake. She needed no one's approval.

That didn't stop her from catching herself looking at her reflection in the rear view mirror for a brief moment after parking the car. She inwardly kicked herself and adjusted her jacket over her arm as she got out of the champagne colored sedan.

To her surprise, he was already sitting at an outside table. She glanced down at her watch in slight alarm.

She was still an hour early. She turned as if to go back to her car when he spoke.

"You're early."

She stopped. She knew he had caught her. Her only way out of this awkwardness was a witty reply.

"So are you." God she sounded like an idiot. She turned to face him, her expression a mask of professional calm.

He chuckled.

"I suppose you are right. Shall we move our date back an hour? So that neither of us has to be shamed by our too early appearances?" His cheeks were flushed just slightly, and she could feel the same heat on hers. She mentally berated herself and the color faded from her cheeks easily.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." She said, crossing to his side. He stood and pulled out her chair for her before she could protest.

"Thank you." She said quietly, a little embarassed by his chivalric gesture. She was unused to such treatment.

"It was my pleasure." August said, going back to his own seat and wondering if she knew that he caught a glimpse down her shirt. It was unintentional, but very interesting. He felt that she could read his mind and knew what a pig he was at heart. He was a gentleman through and through, but he _was _a man...

She seemed not to notice as the waitress brought them menus and took their drink orders. Integra briefly regretted driving alone and agreeing to a date before five o' clock... She felt that she could use a bit of a drink. She ordered tea instead and sat aside the menu.

He smiled at her.

"You are as lovely in civilian clothes as your evening wear." He said. She smirked.

"This is hardly the norm for me, but we hired a new maid recently. She is still getting used to the laundry schedule." Integra covered her slip easily with a convienient lie. It was true that Tessa was new, but she was hardly behind on the laundry. It just seemed that her usual suits would be too heavy for a casual date, hence the lighter version she wore. The shirt and slacks were reminiscent of a suit without radiating so much masculinity. They were simple and businesslike without screaming the strength and self-posessed control that the suits did.

"I understand completely." He said, not catching her slip. He sipped his tea. "Mary has been with the family for years, but every now and then, she decides to revamp the household schedule and the laundry day changes. She never deems it appropriate to notify a single soul."

Integra chuckled a little. Walter had done the same thing on more than one occasion.

The rest of the conversation flowed easily, interrupted only by the waitress and polite bites of food. Integra found her appetite surprisingly diminished, barely eating any of her soup. August seemed similiarly affected, his sandwich hardly touched. The conversation stayed lively and interesting, and when it was finally time to go, neither wanted to.

Then the phone rang.

Integra looked at her cell phone and sighed. It was from her desk which meant Alucard was phoning.

"You have to go." August said resignedly.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Shouldn't you answer that? If you'll pardon-"

"It isn't an emergency. Trust me." She glared at the small buzzing box.

"How do you know?"

She showed him the phone.

"Walter would never call from my personal desk. Neither would Officer Victoria or any other household help. The only one that would call from that number is the troublemaker."

"Ah. Fortunately, I have to do far less reasoning to figure out which number my imp is calling from. Dorian has his own cell phone and rarely uses any other means of communication."

"Dorian?"

"My brother. He is a playboy, gambler, drinker, shameless flirt, and freeloader, among other things..."

"How dreadful... I can at least get a general hold on my nuisance."

"How convenient."

"It can be." She sighed as the phone continued to buzz. "I should probably go." She said, her voice betraying her reluctance.

"If you must..." August stood with her.

"I have had a very pleasant time with you today, Mr. De Sade." Integra said with a smile. He smiled back.

"As have I, Sir Hellsing." His grey eyes danced with playful light at the sudden formality.

"We will have to do this again."

"That we will. Until we meet again..." And he kissed her hand. She smiled and had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from blushing again. This man was different from the others she had spoken with before, and she wasn't sure what it was. His eyes met hers again as he released her hand.

"No, put your wallet away. Lunch is my treat." He said, then held up a hand gently when she started to protest.

"Please, it would hurt my honor as a gentleman to let a lady pay for her own lunch when she was so gracious as to spend that time with me." His smile turned even more playful and she couldn't help but smile and shake her head.

"Thank you, August."

"Thank _you_, Integra."

"Goodbye. I hope you have a lovely evening."

"Compared to this, my evening will be bleak and wretched, but I do appreciate the kind thought." He chuckled. She nodded one last goodbye as she laughed softly with him and walked back to her car.

***** And there goes another chapter... Next up, we have the grilling of Integra at her front door. :D Anyone else looking forward to it as much as I am? Please remember these three things: 1 I don't own Hellsing. 2. I love reviews. 3. I never really have a number 3. Love, Nyxe


	6. Interrogation

Integra could feel the crowd of people in the foyer before she slipped the key in the door. It swung open slowly, the way solidly built doors do, making the barest hint of a creak from its old hinges. The first face she saw was Seras', bright smile splitting her face clean in two. She hadn't crossed the threshold before they swarmed her.

"How did it go?"

"Did he kiss you?" That was Pip's voice. Integra was not pleased.

Vehement snarl from Alucard's place on the edge of a table...

"Did you enjoy your outing?" Walter was the most composed of the crew, walking calmly to her side to take her jacket from her.

"It went well. I fail to see how that is any of your business. Shouldn't you be sleeping? And yes, I did, thank you." With the comments aimed in their appropriate directions like bullets, excepting the softer one to her faithful butler, she left to her office. Along the way, she wound up with a red-clad shadow trailing her more attentively than her god-given one.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" He asked when they were out of earshot in her office.

"Why did you call?" She went to her desk and moved some papers around, clearing a space for her to begin her work.

"You'd kow if you had answered."

"Well, judging from the utter lack of a catastrophe, I would say that it was simply to alert me to the fact that I was wasting my time with something horribly unimportant and I should get back to work as soon as possible."

An annoyed sound sprung up from the red coat that hovered near the corner of her desk. She had better things to focus on than a pouting vampire, so she was a bit distracted and casual when she told him to close the door. It wasn't an order, she didn't have the give-a-damn for that right now.

"No." Alucard said, eyes locking on her defiantly. Integra's blue eyes zeroed in on his and turned her casual request into a direct order by gripping the reins of the seals tightly and giving them a firm tug, reminding him who the master was. He never moved, but a shadow near the door twitched, sending the door swinging in a fast arc only to slam into the frame and lock. Integra didn't so much as flinch.

"Sit."

"I would prefer to stand." Alucard said in a scathing tone. She usually allowed him some freedoms to keep herself from feeling like a tyrant. However, if the situation called for it, she had no problem forcing her will on him. This was not one of those times. She proceeded to ignore the fact that he stood at the corner of her desk like the red-clad reaper he was and picked up her pen.

"What has been going on lately to make you so damned moody?" She demanded, receiving only a low snarl in reply. "Use your words." She said, briefly remembering the times he told her the same thing when she didn't feel like communicating in a way that was more sophisticated from grunts and whines and growls.

"Why him?" He asked, he sounded a bit like he was pouting, and this threw Integra somewhat.\

"Excuse me?" she looked up.

"De Sade. Why?"

"This is hardly your concern, nor does it answer my question." Integra turned back to her paperwork, more frustrated and annoyed with her vampire than before.

"It would if you'd just get rid of him."

"I will do no such thing unless and until I decide that it is necessary."

"Then you will have to wait until then to get your answer."

When her head snapped up to reprimand him for his impertinence, she found him gone.

"ALUCARD!" She yelled, her voice drowning out the small knock that began when she inhaled to expel his name from her lungs like the smoke that usually resided there. There came a timid squeak from the other side of the door and she knew that Seras stood on the other side.

"What is it?" Integra snapped, realizing that she was standing and had her hands braced on the desk, her usual yelling position. She forced her knees to bend and her knuckles to relax, folding back into her chair.

"It's nothing, I'll come back later..." She heard Seras turn to walk away. The door remained closed from when Alucard slammed it, and for some reason, that really wore on Integra's nerves. She needed it to be opened and closed properly. Seras could do that, and it would seem routine. That was her solution.

"Come in, Officer Victoria." Integra's voice was more controlled now, calmer. Seras timidly opened the door, peeking her strawberry blonde head in, eyes finding Integra's head in her hands.

"Should I get Walter to find some advil for you?" She asked, concern coloring her soft sweet little voice. Integra simply shifted the weight of her head to her left hand, her right going to the drawer beside her thigh and pulling out a bottle of water and small bottle of pills. She set them both on the desk without a word.

"Oh."

"Was there something you needed?" She asked, voice somber and low. Her hands opened both bottles, the white one that rattled first, then the water bottle. There wasn't a spare movement. It was nearly like watching a magician with a deck of cards, every motion fluid and direct without being showy. The pills were washed down with the water and she cleared them off of her desk with another set of flowy motions.

"Well, now it seems like a stupid idea..." Seras said, looking away from the elegance of her master's master. She usually felt outclassed when she was speaking with her.

"What is it?" Integra sounded tired. Seras fidgeted.

"Sit down." Seras obeyed. "Now, what was it that you needed?" Integra hadn't looked up once since Seras came into the room.

"Well, I got to thinking..." Seras began. Integra's head pounded just a little more. "And... since you have a … male friend..."

"Where are you going with this?"

"You don't have any girlfriends to talk to, and since you _like_ Mr. de Sade..." Integra blinked. She had the nagging feeling that she saw where where this was headed, and she didn't like the idea of having this conversation."

"Don't you want to talk about him?" Seras continued, looking pleadingly to her employer.

"Why would I do that?" Integra asked levelly. Seras pouted. This was too much. She was resembling her sire far too much for Integra's comfort.

"It's what women do!" Seras pleaded, her big blue eyes pouting fully.

"You are dismissed, Officer Victoria." Integra's voice rang out colder than her eyes as she refocused the frozen orbs on her paperwork. Seras stood with a little huff.

"If you decide that you want to talk about how cute you think he is or how nice he treats you, just let me know." She smiled brightly and left, leaving the door cracked behind her.

Integra reached for more pills.

***** And there we go! Another chapter! I'm in a massive rush, so there won't be any shout-outs this round, but I'll get everyone in the next Author's note. Sorry guys. Spanish Lab calls my name... Read and if you enjoyed it, review. ~Nyxe


	7. Mousy

Seras stood with her ear pressed to the door of Integra's office. Even though her vampiric hearing made it easy enough for her to hear, she still felt that the closer she was to the door, the better. One hand was braced on the door frame and the other lightly rested beside her cheek. She stared at her thumbnail as she listened to Integra laugh again. She smiled.

"What do you think you are doing, Police Girl?" A very bored and somewhat tired voice asked her. She squeaked and jumped out of her skin, spinning midair to face Alucard. He raised an eyebrow. From within the office came a crystalline laugh. His eyes narrowed and cut to the door. Goodbyes were said and the click of the reciever finding the cradle. There was a beat of silence.

"Come in, Officer Victoria." Integra said.

"From experience, that would be her angry voice. I recommend you dodge as many bullets as possible." Alucard chuckled and melted down to the basement. Seras whimpered and pulled herself together before slipping shyly into the office.

From his place in his basement throne, he could hear the vicious reprimands and indignation stemming from Seras' eavesdropping. He smiled. This would teach her to use her powers with a bit more finesse. A shadow slipped from his sleeve and formed into a black mouse with red eyes. He smiled down at the creature, a sight that would have terrified lesser creatures to cardiac arrest. The shadow mouse smiled back with tiny fangs of its own. He stroked the sleek fur with a fingertip.

"That was quite funny, wasn't it?" He asked the little apparition. It just ran around his pale palm in a circle, stretching its little legs. The tiny claws raked across his skin with every minute step.

He idly watched it for a moment or two, his thoughts drifting from his flegeling to his Master. The laugh that he heard was genuine, too delicate a sound to be a contrived reaction. It was not quite a feminine sound, however it was gentler and softer than anything that fit with the persona she had created for herself. It was a truly happy sound that he hadn't heard in years... The mouse stopped running and looked up at him. He stroked the velvety ears as he spoke.

"He makes her happy, doesn't he?" He asked the mouse. It stopped its circle and sat back on its haunches, looking up at him.

"Yes, he makes her happy. We used to make her happy once, didn't we?" He paused, "He has been keeping her far too busy for us. We have been behaving very well for her lately, and when is the last time she told us so? She hasn't... He has kept Master from Mastering..." An even longer pause than the first, "We used to make her happy once..."

His stream of warped consiousness and sanity melted and reformed into a memory. It was evening, the sun had set but the rays still clung to the sky. Integra still wore her skirt from school and held a small stick of wood in one hand. Alucard sat in hellhound form at her feet. His massive tail wagged as his eyes locked on the small branch in her hand. She threw it as far as she could and he bounded after it in true pet form. A small smile touched his lips at the memory.

"What a point you have." He told the mouse in his hand. It pawed at its own nose for a moment before sneezing and turning back into a shadow to slither down his sleeve. He would speak with her later...

***** Okay... It's short and definitely not the best piece I've written, but I have the outline for the next chapter already and it promises to lead me to a longer chapter. I'm way too far behind on shoutouts, so we'll start fresh. Comment on this chapter and I PROMISE I'll put a little note here for you on the next one. Thanks so much for your patience and support, guys and gals, it means the world to me. 3 Nyxe


	8. Making Amends

Integra stood at her bedroom window. The sun was setting and she was enjoying her first cigar of the evening, a cup of hot tea courtesy of Walter sitting beside her ashtray. The window was raised halfway, the tepid breeze toying with the wisps of smoke from the cigar and the hot ashes resting in the crystal tray, blending them with the steam from the cup of tea. She wore a smile on her lips as her eyes played over the vast yard and the edge of the surrounding forest. So far, it was a good day. August would call her in... she cast a look at her watch... roughly half an hour, she would do paperwork while they chatted, then they would say their goodbyes and resume work as usual. Talking to him always seemed to mellow her out a bit, something she seriously needed in her line of work.

Her bedroom door creaked open a touch. She didn't move, nor did she have to think long about who was edging their way into her room. She had heard no footsteps, which meant that it wasn't Seras, and Walter would have knocked. Pip was still too terrified of her to enter this part of the manor unaccompanied, which left-

"Yes, Alucard. What is it?" She asked, still too calm to really care. She heard soft steps padding across the carpet to her side, but there seemed to be two too many feet in the room. She turned halfway and cast her eyes to the door, but her view was unobstructed. Then her eyes fell to a space just a little closer to the carpet. She smiled, not realizing that the previous smile had fallen from her face with the interruption of her idle thinking.

There was a massive shadow with four paws and six red eyes staring up at her expectantly. It came closer to her and nudged her hip, eyes blinking at her with a very open expression.

"If I didn't know any better, I would assume this was an apology." She spoke, looking down at the hell-hound. The red eyes narrowed.

"Of course it isn't." She said, resting her free hand on the top of the shaggy head. The hound sat beside her feet and rested his chin on the windowsill, his nose close to the crystal ashtray. There was a long silence as Integra was left to recall the previous arguments that had passed between them in the past few days, and as she did, the smile faded again. Her hand on his head became a little gentler, and when she spoke, her voice was softer.

"I have been neglecting you." She said.

The hound just huffed in an annoyed manner. Integra smiled just a little as she stroked the top of his head in a fond way, like one would a favorite and beloved pet. She patted his head once more and walked to her desk, gathering pens and papers and taking them to the end of the couch, setting her work on an end table and slipping off her shoes. She curled her feet beneath her in the way she used to when she would do her homework in this very spot, back when her father was alive. Once she had settled into the couch and arranged her work in the most efficient manner, she patted the cushion beside her, cigar and tea forgotten in the windowsill. The hell-hound turned, seemingly being pulled from a deep reverie, and his eyes brightened when he saw what she wanted. He bounded over and pounced on the couch beside her, resting his head on her thigh and looking up at her with glowing ember eyes. She smiled and placed her left hand on his head again, petting and soothing him and showing him that she was repentant without being truly so for forgetting to pay appropriate attention to her most loyal of servants. Her work went on as usual with her right hand signing and amending documents, and her left appeasing her wolfish pet.

As the evening wore on and the sun hid deep within the forest, Alucard's contentment and relaxation got the best of him, leaving him to fall asleep in Integra's lap. He melted back into his more familiar form, his long hair falling across her lap and his pale skin making hers seem all the more dark. When she realized that she no longer had a dog to share the couch with, she briefly debated waking him so she could go back to her desk. However, Alucard was notoriously hard to wake up, so she simply ruffled his hair once more before resting her hand on the white silk of his shirt, her hand just above his silent heart. This was relaxing in itself, she thought as she felt the cool silk warm with the heat from her own hand. A fingertip traced a button as she continued her work, a small smile finding her lips for the fourth time that evening.

***** Alrighty, children, it's time for shout-outs! (finally) I apologize for this chapter and the previous one being so short, but it IS finals week here at my university, so I was a bit busy trying to keep my head above water. But enough about me... On to my responses!

Black_Diamond07: Not too sure how much we'll see them talking about August, but we'll have her talk with August about him soon enough. If they date, Alucard's gonna be a topic of interest, don't you think? ;)

gacr36: I do apologize for the shortness, but I'm glad you still enjoyed it. That's my sole purpose here, to amuse and distract everyone from the suckyness that is reality. :D

Zorin: We'll see how enraged he really is. I see all those years of being locked in a dungeon (both in his human life and in his vampiric un-life) giving him a touch of patience. Besides, all she's doing is getting distracted by a new shiny. He knows he's the shinier of the two and all she has to do is get tired of the new one. ;)

BeautifullyBroken86: He did get a little Gollum-esque, didn't he? But there's that touch of possessive madness down beneath all those twisted layers of fun and darkness. Go figure. And this scene was in the works before you mentioned the tension relief. I hope it's enough to suffice for now. I'll be glad to add in a touch more fluff between them if you'd like though. Ask Zorin, I love me some fluff. :D

RoxyMoron: I thought it was cute too. :D Who didn't want a big badass monster to play fetch with after school? Or was that just me? … yeah... just me... :"

And there we go. A whole other chapter up and finished. Keep the reviews rolling in. It's summer and I now have decent internet at my house. This should mean that I can write and publish chapters quicker. Looking forward to hear from all of you! 3 Nyxe


	9. Unexpected

August hesitated before the massive doors leading to Hellsing Manor. Perhaps Dorian was a worse source of advice and encouragement than he had always believed. The pink roses in his left hand felt far heavier than they should have as he steeled himself and brought his right hand up to knock on the door. The dark wood of the door swung away from his hand, however, leaving it frozen in mid-air. Before him stood an elderly gentleman with a monocle and a pocketwatch.

"You must be Mr. De Sade." The butler said, "Please, do come in."

Integra sat on the couch with her sleeping monster using her as a pillow, doing her paperwork. The sun had set and she was beginning to grow annoyed with Alucard. Her finger traced a button with an impatient air. She felt that she needed a cigar. The silver case on her desk taunted her. She glared at the way it shone in the light from the lamp at her side. Then she sighed and put down her pen, resting her head in her right hand.

A knock came at the door. Walter.

"A visitor to see you, Sir."

"Come in." She said, only the faintest trace of her annoyance perceptible in her tone. The door opened with a small creak. Walter made a mental note to get oil from the downstairs cabinet and fix it, then he remembered that Integra forbade him to do anything about it. It was something that she liked, reminding her of days with her father. He sighed inwardly and escorted August into the room.

"Mr. De Sade." Walter said, leaving immediately after that short introduction. The door creaked as he left, but did not close entirely. Despite Alucard's presence, he was not about to leave his 'daughter' alone with a young man that he hadn't ample time to evaluate behind closed doors.

"August, I wasn't expecting you." Integra said, looking up at him and starting to stand. Alucard wasn't having any of that, however. He wrapped a slender arm around her calves and held her still. She frowned down at him and flicked his ear. He twitched but remained asleep.

August was a bit confused by this exchange. He had heard that Integra had no suitors, nor did she mention one in their talks, however, she was sitting on the couch, allowing a man to snuggle to her.

Integra tried to pull away again, and Alucard wound himself tighter around her as she shifted. She sighed and flicked his nose, making his red eyes snap open. He winced a little and rubbed his nose as he sat up, freeing her.

"How cruel of you, Master..." He said, his voice thick and rough from sleep, lending it a supremely seductive tone. She shrugged him off. It was then that August noticed that she was barefoot. It made her a little more human in his eyes, a little more perfect as well.

"Who is he?" August was unable to squelch the jealousy evident in his tone, and beneath the indignation at seeing her with another man, there was a touch of posessiveness. Alucard's eyes narrowed as he looked at him.

"This is my servant, Alucard." Integra said, turning to glare again at the man in red. August briefly wondered if he had walked in on some sort of S&M thing and was immediately on red alert, then something clicked in his memory.

"Alucard? The troublemaker?"

"The vampire and loyal servant of Hellsing." She clarified, then realized that he was correct as well, "Yes, the troublemaker."

Alucard grinned at De Sade's perplexed expression, then he stretched on the couch, turning back into the Hellhound. De Sade smiled at the shift, relieved that she hadn't been romantically involved with him, he was just a pet.

"I would normally say, 'Nice to meet you.' here, however I never managed to fluently speak canine..." August said, prompting Alucard to lumber over to him and sniff at his shoes, then his pants' legs up to the knee. He then sat back on his haunches and looked up into August's dark grey eyes with the full force of his six red ones. When August failed to flinch away, Alucard huffed and went to lie at Integra's feet. She watched this all calmly, hand resting on the gun loaded with special silver bullets on her hip through her jacket. She would have hated to shoot Alucard in front of company, however, sometimes, he made it necessary.

"Shall we go for a walk?" August asked, bringing the bouquet of roses from behind his back. Integra smiled as she took them from him, going to her desk and pouring the water from a bottle in a drawer into a glass paperweight with a hollow down the center. The roses fit perfectly. Alucard had to give her credit for creativity. That paperweight was never meant to be a vase of any kind, although her father had once kept whiskey in it...

"That sounds lovely." Integra said, going to Alucard's side once more to get her shoes. He intercepted her, snatching up one loafer in his mouth. She glared at him sharply.

"Drop it." She said. August almost laughed at the seriousness present in the comical scene, but he thought it in his best interests to stay silent. Alucard sat back and looked up at her, the shoe protruding from his mouth. Six red eyes blinked at her innocently.

"Now." She demanded. The shoe fell to the floor with a wet thunk. She sighed.

"On second thought..." She turned to August, "I will be right back." She turned to glare at Alucard and order him through their telepathic link to treat August like a foreign diplomat, nothing but the utmost respect, and no more shoe stealing. He huffed and collapsed on the floor in the manner of large dogs and she fought the urge to say 'good boy' as she left to go to her closet for another pair of shoes.

August was left alone in her office with the large man-dog werewolf amalgamation that was Alucard. He was not specifically afraid of him, but he was wary in the way of people trapped with the unknown. He knew that Integra was the master of this particular beast, and he followed her orders implicitly, even if that meant taking creative license with how her orders were phrased. She had mentioned that he tended to argue semantics and manipulate words to get his way. She had also told him that he was a vicious killer at her command, far more lethal and accurate and methodical than any weapon he could create.

Alucard just wanted to eat him.

Integra returned moments later with a new pair of shoes on her feet. She smiled at August.

"Are you ready?"

"Always." He replied, offering her his arm as they walked down the stairs to the door. Alucard padded along behind them.

"You are staying here." She said to the massive hound that caught up to her side on the stairs. The beast growled. August gained a little more respect for her when she didnt' flinch.

"Don't you take that tone with me. Go follow Walter around or something." Again, the dog growled.

"Fine, go to your room and do not come out until I either return indoors or call for you."

This time, the dog... whined? But the eyes were far too demanding for it to have been a true whimper.

"Go now." The dog snarled and melted through the staircase.

"You have quite a way with animals." August said cheerfully as he held the door open for her.

"Only those who wear my collar." She said, walking out into the night and her well-lit courtyard.

*****Yay! Another chapter done and hopefully long enough to appease you guys. I really am sorry the other chapters have been so short lately, but I've just had sooooo much going on that it sucked the creativity out of me. Here's to hoping you enjoy this chapter! Please review, it makes me happy. :D ~ Nyxe


	10. Surprise

A week after the evening walk with August, Integra came to terms with the fact that she would have to let Walter throw out the flowers. They were wilted and looked like they carried the plague. She made a face at them before resuming her cigar.

The paperwork loomed before her seemingly without end. The clock mocked her. All that she wanted to do was go to bed so that she would be prepared for the coming day. Then Alucard walked in. He hadn't spoken with her since she ordered him to stay in the basement rather than allowing him to go on the walk with her.

"I don't like him." He said simply, easily melting into the chair across from her desk.

"And why is that?" She asked. She was only trying to quiet him down without orders. She didn't appreciate feeling like a tyrant. She only half heard his answer, but what she heard definitely caught her attention.

"What did you say?" She asked, blue eyes wide with shock. This was quite an unfamiliar expression for her face, and her muscles protested gently.

"Did you not hear me, Master?" he taunted.

"Answer me."

"I said that he has you fooled." Alucard's eyes glimmered with a sadistic light.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?"

"I spied on him of course."

"When did you do that?"

"When his brother dropped off the first letter." Alucard's smile refused to leave his place.

"How did you spy on August when Dorian was the one at the door?"

"They are one in the same. I admit, it took me a bit of a while to puzzle it out completely, but thanks to your grandfather's obsession with Freud and psychology in general, I eventually put two and two together, so to speak."

"Out with it, Alucard."

Here Alucard pulled a book from his jacket and left it open on her desk. The heading said something about a study concerning Dissociative Identity Disorder.

"What is this?"

"August de Sade and Dorian de Sade are the same man."

"How absurd." Integra reached for another cigar.

"I was wondering why you smelled like Dorian when you came back from your lunch date... Then it became clearer when he appeared at your door last week. When you left us alone, I had ample time to examine him. His mind was not as it should have been, and now, it makes sense."

"I am glad it is clear to one of us."

"You know of Jeckyll and Hyde. They are one as Dorian and August are one."

Integra just sat in silence, the decaying pink roses mocking her with their sickly sweet scent of death. She came to terms with this revelation just as quietly as she did every other emotional crisis. She lit her cigar and inhaled slowly and deeply, eyes closing.

"Thank you for telling me, Alucard." Her voice was soft, masking her hurt. If she had spoken louder, her voice would have shaken or cracked.

"Of course, my master." With that, he faded away, leaving her with her thoughts.

Below the manor, Alucard sat on his throne, staring off into the darkness, hearing the vicious way that she signed the documents. He could tell that she was upset. He knew from the beginning that August wasn't nearly good enough for her. And lo and behold... the minute that he resigned himself to the fact that she had found someone that she could be happy with, that man had to show his true colors. At least he was just crazy instead of simply unfit. This would just complicate things rather than ruin them. But at least she knew that it couldn't work. She needed someone stable and reliable, not someone unpredictable with a tenuous hold on sanity.

Alucard suddenly stopped his musings, realizing for the first time what a fool he truly was. Even that man was more qualified to be with Integra than he himself was. At least that man, or those men, were living and not confined to a cursed existence as he was. And that man had a will of his own and she could see that he wanted to be with her, that he wasn't forced like she thought. Alucard sighed.

He could never hope to hold the station that had just been vacated by the Misters de Sade. She would never see him as more than a servant, and he certainly didn't deserve that distinction. He was a monster, had never been anything except a monster, and he would never be anything other than what he was. Apparently he would have to come to new terms with his sentence and live with the bare facts. She needed a man, not a monster.

His eyes closed and his expression grew more solemn.

He would never have her.

He could never have her.

However, with that outlook, and with her wonderfully alienating quirks, they would both end their existences alone.

Alucard decided that he could contest fate once again. After all, the last time hadn't gone so badly... He grinned.

***** So...I finally updated. I just didn't know how to come back to this after their little walk, and I've been meaning to get rid of August for a few chapters. Hopefully the next chapter comes a little easier than this one did. Thank you all for bearing with me. It means a lot. ~Nyxe


	11. Paternal

"Far be it from my station to tell you what to do, Sir Integra, I feel it necessary to tell you that some sort of action is required in this matter." Walter said, handing her another creamy envelope with a black seal. She tossed it into the trash without a thought.

"Walter, please sit down." She said, not looking up from her keyboard. As he sat across from her, he couldn't help but notice that the letters that had made their home beneath the keyboard were absent. In the trash, he supposed.

"In a situation like this, I would have gone to my father for advice." She said, her voice quiet again. She only spoke that softly when something heavy was on her mind. Walter stayed silent, waiting for her to elaborate. Her blue eyes were dark as they examined the pale letters on her black keyboard.

"August isn't who I thought he was." She finally said. Walter saw the twenty two year old girl she was deep down rather than the woman of steel she always portrayed herself as.

"And just who is he, Integra?" Walter replied, doing his best to remember her father's mannerisms and views in order to better serve his employer.

"He's a bloody lunatic. He is his own twin brother... Some sort of personality disorder nonsense." She said, pushing the book that Alucard had set on her desk toward her butler. He opened it to the bookmarked page and quickly skimmed the article.

"What makes you think that he is so afflicted?" Walter asked, closing the book and setting it on her desk silently.

"Alucard explained something vague about the scents, but it explains other things. During the walk, he seemed to be having some sort of an internal conflict. We stopped for a moment to look at the stars, he had taken an astronomy class in college and was showing me constellations. When he was telling the story about the constellation Virgo, his voice changed. He wasn't himself. I decided that it was time to turn back and head to the manor. When he saw that I had no interest in what he was saying, he seemed to... melt back into himself. It was all rather odd." Here Integra shook her head, "I should have known he was insane. He took meeting Baskerville rather too well for a sane individual."

Walter bit his tongue to keep from laughing at her expression. It was almost sad how resigned she was to this. He knew that she rather fancied the young man, and it was unfortunate that she would now miss out on all of the little pleasantries that courting brought. Even sadder still was the callousness with which she handled this little misfortune.

"Well, I think that in this situation, your father would say-"

"Walter, I didn't tell you this because I wanted to know what Father would say. I wanted to know what you would tell me." She looked up at him. Blue eyes met blue eyes. Walter's heart was touched.

"In that case, I would tell you that there are other fish in the sea, and that I had a feeling that you were far too good for him. Notwithstanding his mental stability." The old butler smiled and saw a whisper of a smile on Integra's lips.

"Thank you, Walter." She said warmly. It was obvious to him that she was still hurt, but it would heal. Of that, he was certain.

"Anytime, Sir Integra." He said, standing.

"One more thing..." She said.

"Yes?" He turned. She seemed to be having trouble figuring out what to say.

"Are you wondering how to tell him that you are no longer interested in his advances?" Walter asked. She only nodded gratefully, glad that he found the words that she misplaced.

"I would suggest telling him that due to the recent rise in vampiric activity that you have little to no time left for a personal life. Either that or the ever so popular 'I'm finding myself.' Of course, those are barring telling him the truth." Integra sighed.

"Just tell him that you aren't in a position in your life to be involved romantically with an individual as unique as himself. Then you are telling the truth, but delicately." The old butler smiled at her from his place beside the door.

"Thank you Walter." She repeated.

"It is my job, madam." He said with a smile.

"No, for everything. Not just what you do, but... everything." She said. Her eyes were soft and grateful. He smiled and nodded once.

"It was my supreme pleasure." He said, walking out and closing the door quietly behind himself. She listened to his measured footsteps fade down the carpeted hallway before closing her eyes and letting her forehead rest in her palm, elbow catching on the edge of the desk.

***** Alright guys! There's your filler chapter while I work up the guts to attempt to catch the confrontation in text to pass along to you. I may do a filler chapter from Alucard's view to prevent the inevitable, but it should be up soon. I can feel it tugging on my coat tail. :)


End file.
